Celtic have been linked to talented Ghanian striker.
You need only consider the idea that Chelsea are chasing Celtic target Richmond Boakye to know that Brendan Rodgers might be blown out of the water completely.
According to The Mail, Celtic and the Premier League champions are interested in the red-hot Ghana hitman, who has 15 goals in 23 games for Red Star Belgrade.
On the surface it seems as if Rodgers has little chance of tempting him to Parkhead if the Blues are interested, but joining his former manager Antonio Conte in West London might be a big mistake.
Conte bought and sold the 24-year-old for Juventus and it has been a very long journey back to any sort of prominence after failing to make a single league appearance during his two-year stint under the Italian boss in Turin.
Boakye has been on the books at seven different clubs in the past five years – including Latina, who are now in Serie D. He has put in too much work to re-sign for a manager who wound up not using him in Italy.
He has paid his dues and thensome and although Chelsea seems like an attractive proposition, there is nothing attractive about sitting on a bench and watching the brilliant Alvaro Morata dazzle every single week.
If his interview with ESPN in 2013 is anything to go by then regular football is the most important thing for him. Boakye, then at Sassuolo on loan from Juve, said: “It’s the wish of every player to play at a big club but I thought it a wise move [to join the then-Serie B side on loan], more playing time was important for me in my career.”
With his goal record at Red Star, Boakye has a much better shot at rivalling Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele – the latter of whom may not even be there for much longer – for the number nine shirt at Celtic.
Swansea and Crystal Palace are also interested, according to The Mail, but they aren’t big, Champions League-participating clubs. Celtic are and if Rodgers genuinely wants him then he should not be deterred by the Blues’ reported interest.
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